Gabe Sapolsky of EVOLVE recently took part in a Reddit AMA to promote the upcoming 10th anniversary of the wrestling brand. In it, he answered questions on a wide variety of subjects, including Kenny Omega, the ned to use more women, and what he’s learned from Paul Heyman.
Check out some highlights below:
On what he’s learned from Paul Heyman:
There’s so much and I am very lucky to have him as a mentor. One of the main things is that you have to bring something different to the marketplace with your promotion. It can be anything. A different style, being regional, a different vibe, it just needs to add to the marketplace. That is what we are trying to do with EVOLVE now. We are the only promotion that can feature a roster of NXT, EVOLVE and independent unsigned talent. Our emphasis is on having careers evolve. We have tight shows. I feel all this makes us different and unique. We’ll show that live on the WWE Network on July 13th.
On Kenny Omega’s comments about EVOLVE’s 10th anniversary show airing on WWE Network:
I thought it was a little disparaging to all the work and sacrifice we have done to get this opportunity. That part was disappointing. We had the date booked before their date was announced. The very first conversation I had with Triple H in 2016 there was talk of doing a special. We are in Philadelphia the night before WWE has a PPV there. We are in a great building at the 2300 Arena that is tailored made to go right on the WWE Network. Everything just came together to do it on this date. It’s been a long process. I saw Kenny deleted it and then tweeted something else, so it is all good by me. I haven’t talked to Kenny in a long time, but I always felt we had a positive relationship. He was one of the guys I really wanted to push in 2008 and into 2009. I’m glad all his hard work has paid off.
On the need to book more women:
This is a weakness and something that needs to be addressed. At one point, since we have the WWN Family concept of a number of different promotions, we felt it was best just to have a women’s promotion with SHINE. We felt we could have a great men’s promotion with EVOLVE and women’s promotion with SHINE. The WWN Supershow on Mania weekend this year featured a mix with intergender action. We were trying to create different brands with different concepts. We are very happy with SHINE in the WWN Family, but yes now there should be more women featured in EVOLVE and will address that in time. EVOLVE is taking its next form now and women need to be a bigger part of it.
